MAME Lightguns - I'm so freakin' confused

[Zeno]

Okay all you experts out there, I need your help.

I am running MAME 32 and have it hooked up to a 25" TV.

I love Lethal Enforcers, Area 51, etc.
I hate using my mouse.
I need a light gun (or 2).

I have looked at the Act Labs sight but still don't know what I need.

What the heck do I need here people?  Is it really going to cost me $170 for two light guns?

Thanks all.

[Kaytrim]

Another option is the LCD TopGun.  This light gun can run on any display even projection, Plasma, LCD, even HD.  Search the forums her for the TopGun to learn more.  One thread had some 46+ pages of posts.  Here is a link to purchase direct.  I have a pair of these but haven't had time to hook them up yet.

TTFN 
Kaytrim

word to the wise, only power up the LED bars when you are going to use them.  The life for them is only about 3,000 hours.

[AcidArmitage]

if ur using a big ol tube TV, you can also use playstation guncon2 lightguns... a lot cheaper

[moriartyds]

I'd go with the LCD top-gun.   it's available at play-asia.com.  It'll run you about $50 per gun though when you include shipping.  I'd agree with using hte Gun2con drivers with it if you go with this option.

Assuming you're using a relatively recent verison of mame, it's pretty easy to setup.  Windows XP/mame recognizes it as a mouse, so all you need to do is plug it in and do a hardware calibration (shoot several spots on a screen).  You will have to do the tab/configure things in the game setup screen to assign the right controller (and some mame games have their own calibration) but otherwise it's fairly easy.

Now for the downsides: 
- You have to put 2 LED stands pretty near your screen.  They're fairly narrow, and can be attached by velcro/other methods ... but some folks didn't like putting them on their mame cab. 
- You have to stand reasonably far back with them from the screen to get them to work. 
- You should have a way to block out any background sources of ligth (like open windows) which could confuse the guns

See the big long TopGun thread in the Mame forum for more info.  In general the gun looks/feels pretty good and works with most mame lightgun games and various other games like house of the dead 2 for the PC.